“You’re off the hook now, sister. We don’t need you or baby getting any deeper into this mess.”
Hope hugged him. “Thank you. You’re the best brother-in-law ever,” she said, and ducked back inside.
Lon made a quick call back to dispatch.
“I’m gonna need some backup at the Emergency Room, and tell them to hurry.”
* * *
Moses was focused on Dr. Quick’s instructions for how to take care of the wound and when to change the dressings when there was a commotion at the door, and then Chief Pittman and two officers walked in.
“Dr. Quick, I’m going to ask you and Rhonda to step out of the room now,” he said.
Quick blinked. “I’m just finishing up. If—”
“Is his life in danger?” Lon asked.
“No, sir. He’s good to go. I was just giving instructions.”
“Then I’m going to ask you both to step out.”
Quick glanced at the men, wondering what they’d done, but he didn’t hesitate. He took his nurse’s arm and escorted her out.
Both brothers were in shock.
“Get some pictures of those,” Lon said, pointing to the telltale prints in the blood. He wanted his own photo proof of the scene, too.
Deputy Ralph quickly obeyed.
“What’s going on?” Moses asked. “If you think this injury had to do with a fight or something, then, no sir, it did not. He cut his leg with a scythe while he was cleaning up the yard.”
“It’s not about his leg,” Lon said. “Whose footprints are those?” he asked, pointing.
Moses turned. “Why, I guess those are mine.”
Lon pulled up the photos from the site of the rustling that Hope had just sent.
“Do you recognize these prints?” he asked.
Moses stared down at the mud and the grass and the clear boot print in the mud that matched the one in the blood, and all of a sudden his heart skipped a beat.
“How about this picture?” Lon asked, and flipped to a broader scene showing the empty cattle cube sacks and the cut fence wires.
Moses looked. His mind was spinning. There were a thousand things he could think to say, but he couldn’t get them said. He’d known. In the back of his mind, he’d known the risks the day he took the money from the sale of the first steer.
“What the hell are y’all carryin’ on about? Let me see!” J.B. cried.
Lon held out the photo of the bloody boot print, and then showed him the same print in the mud and then the scene at the fence.
All the color in J.B. Gatlin’s face went south. His eyes rolled back in his head and he fainted.
Moses shrieked, “Doctor! Doctor! Come quick!”
Dr. Quick dashed back into the room, saw his patient, and glared at the chief.
“What did you do to him?” he cried.
“Showed him a couple of pictures that linked them to some cattle rustling. I’d guess he fainted.”
Quick checked J.B.’s vitals, then sighed. “Yes, he’s fine. Sorry for shouting. Proceed as you will,” he muttered.
Lon looked at Moses.
“Anything you want to say to me now?”
Moses shuddered. “We did it. We weren’t raised this way and I knew it was wrong, and we did it anyway. I’m sorry. If I could take it back, I would, but it’s done.”
“Turn around, and put your hands behind your back,” Lon said. “Moses Gatlin, I’m arresting you for—”
At that point, all sound faded as Moses turned. He felt the cold steel of the handcuffs around his wrists, and then dropped his head. The possibility of frozen pipes in the trailer had just become the least of their worries.
By the time J.B. came to, Moses was already at the jail being processed. Lon and the other officer transported J. B., booked him, and put him in the cell next to his brother.
“What’s gonna happen to us?” J.B. asked as Deputy Ralph closed the cell door behind him.
“County has the case. Sheriff Ryman will transport you both to the county jail, and you’ll go from there. Sorry you boys took this route in life. I have to say, it sure did surprise me,” Ralph said.
Moses ducked his head.
J.B. just looked away.
As their mama used to say…what’s done is done.
* * *
Jack was a slightly shorter, stockier version of his big brother, Duke, but when it came to taking care of family, they were just alike.
He tried to call Duke after Hope called him, but it went to voicemail, so he just sent her the pictures she’d requested, left Duke a message, and took off into Blessings to